Whither the weather

Jonathan Last takes a look at Al Gore’s case on global warming. He considers Gore’s four core contentions: (1) earth’s climate is getting warmer; (2) man is responsible in substantial part for this change; (3) this change will result in net harm; and (4) this change can be reversed by man.
Last notes that in the previous 100 years, the average temperature on Earth has risen 1 degree Fahrenheit. He finds the evidence mixed as to the extent man is responsible. And there’s good reason to believe that Gore is substituting speculation for reasonable scientific analysis when it comes to the impact further global warming would have (though as a conservative, I would prefer, other things being equal, that the climate stay as it is).
Last distinguishes between Gore’s envirionmental hypocrisy and his environmental arguments, and the point is well-taken. Gore’s environmental hypocrisy is undeniable (see here for yet another instance), but that doesn’t negate his substantive views on the issue of global warming. However, it may be relevant when it comes to Gore’s assertion that climate change can be reversed by man. Whatever the theoretical prospects in this regard, the fact that the leading apostle on this issue leads a lifestyle so inconsistent with the consumption patterns needed to affect the climate does not bode well for a reversal of whatever global warming has occurred thus far and may be on the way.
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